U.S. patent application number 12/565887 was filed with the patent office on 2010-06-17 for software installation system and method.
This patent application is currently assigned to SHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Kai-Bo Qu.
Application Number | 20100153944 12/565887 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42242134 |
Filed Date | 2010-06-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100153944 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Qu; Kai-Bo |
June 17, 2010 |
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
Abstract
A software installation system and method using a first mobile
electronic device and a second mobile electronic device records an
installation record of a software application of the first mobile
electronic device and generates an installation list of the
software application. The system and method further transmits the
installation list to a server, and accesses the installation list
by a second mobile electronic device and sends a request to the
server for installing the software application. Furthermore, the
system and method transmits the installation file to the second
mobile electronic device, in response to the determination that the
software application is available at no cost, and installs the
software application in the second mobile electronic device
according to the installation file and the installation record.
Inventors: |
Qu; Kai-Bo; (Shenzhen City,
CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PCE INDUSTRY, INC.;ATT. Steven Reiss
288 SOUTH MAYO AVENUE
CITY OF INDUSTRY
CA
91789
US
|
Assignee: |
SHENZHEN FUTAIHONG PRECISION
INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
ShenZhen City
CN
CHI MEI COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, INC.
Tu-Cheng City
TW
|
Family ID: |
42242134 |
Appl. No.: |
12/565887 |
Filed: |
September 24, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
717/177 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 4/50 20180201; H04L
67/34 20130101; G06F 8/61 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
717/177 |
International
Class: |
G06F 9/445 20060101
G06F009/445 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 16, 2008 |
CN |
200810306286.0 |
Claims
1. A software installation system using a first mobile electronic
device and a second mobile electronic device, the system
comprising: a memory system; at least one processor; and one or
more programs stored in the memory system and being executable by
the at least one processor, the one or more programs comprising: a
recording module operable to record an installation record of a
software application of the first mobile electronic device and
generate an installation list of the software application in the
first mobile electronic device; a transmitting module operable to
transmit the installation list of the software application from the
first mobile electronic device to a server; an accessing module
operable to access the installation list of the application
software by the second mobile electronic device and send a request
for installing the application software from the second mobile
electronic device to the server; the transmitting module further
operable to transmit an installation file of the software
application from the first mobile electronic device to the second
mobile electronic device; and an installing module operable to
install the software application in the second mobile electronic
device according to the installation file of the software
application and the installation record of the software
application.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is operable to
determine if the software application is available at no cost.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the installation record comprises
a system file of the software application, a system configuration
file of the software application, and startup items of the software
application.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the installation list comprises a
serial number of the first mobile electronic device, a name of the
software application and version information of the software
application.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the first mobile
electronic device and the second mobile electronic device is a
mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory system is selected
from the group consisting of a smart media card (SMC), a secure
digital card (SDC), a compact flash card (CFC), a multi media card
(MMC), a memory system stick (MS), an extreme digital card (XDC),
and a trans flash card (TFC).
7. A software installation method using a first mobile electronic
device and a second mobile electronic device, the method
comprising: (a) recording an installation record of a software
application of the first mobile electronic device and generating an
installation list of the software application in the first mobile
electronic device; (b) transmitting the installation list of the
software application from the first mobile electronic device to a
server; (c) accessing the installation list of the software
application in the server by the second mobile electronic device;
(d) sending a request for installing the application software from
the second mobile electronic device to the server; (e) determining
by the server if the software application is available at no cost;
(f) transmitting an installation file of the software application
from the first mobile electronic device to the second mobile
electronic device, in response to the determination that the
software application is available at no cost; and (g) installing
the software application in the second mobile electronic device
according to the installation file of the software application and
the installation record of the software application.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: sending a
notification for a payment to the second mobile electronic device
by the server, in response to a determination that the software
application is not available at no cost; confirming the payment of
the second mobile electronic device by the server, if the second
mobile electronic device has paid for the software application; and
sending a notification to the first mobile electronic device by the
server, wherein the notification indicates the second mobile
electronic device has paid for the software application.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the installation record comprises
a system file of the software application, a system configuration
file of the software application, and startup items of the software
application.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the installation list comprises
a serial number of the first mobile electronic device, a name of
the software application and version information of the software
application.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein each of the first mobile
electronic device and the second mobile electronic device is a
mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
12. A storage medium storing a set of instructions, the set of
instructions capable of being executed by a processor to perform a
software installing method using a first mobile electronic device
and a second mobile electronic device, the method comprising: (a)
recording an installation record of a software application of the
first mobile electronic device and generating an installation list
of the software application in the first mobile electronic device;
(b) transmitting the installation list of the software application
from the first mobile electronic device to a server; (c) accessing
the installation list of the software application in the server by
the second mobile electronic device; (d) sending a request for
installing the application software from the second mobile
electronic device to the server; (e) determining by the server if
the software application is available at no cost; (f) transmitting
an installation file of the software application from the first
mobile electronic device to the second mobile electronic device, in
response to the determination that the software application is
available at no cost; and (g) installing the software application
in the second mobile electronic device according to the
installation file of the software application and the installation
record of the software application.
13. The medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:
sending a notification for a payment to the second mobile
electronic device by the server, in response to a determination
that the software application is not available at no cost;
confirming a payment by the second mobile electronic device, if the
second mobile electronic device has paid for the software
application; and sending a notification to the first mobile
electronic device by the server, wherein the notification indicates
the second mobile electronic device has paid for the software
application.
14. The medium of claim 12, wherein the installation record
comprises a system file of the software application, a system
configuration file of the software application, and startup items
of the software application.
15. The medium of claim 12, wherein the installation list comprises
a serial number of the first mobile electronic device, a name of
the software application and version information of the software
application.
16. The medium of claim 12, wherein each of the first mobile
electronic device and the second mobile electronic device is a
mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to
electronic device management systems and methods, and particularly
to a software application installation system and method for using
mobile electronic device to install the software application in
another mobile electronic device.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] An input method is an operating system component or program
that allows users to enter characters and symbols not found on
their input device. For instance, on the computer, this allows the
user of keyboards to input Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indic
characters. On a mobile phone, this allows user using the keypad to
enter Latin alphabet characters. Currently, a mobile electronic
device may be provided with many advanced features, such as e-mail,
Internet, e-book reader capabilities, game, or global position
system (GPS) navigation, for example. Usually, the mobile
electronic device is installed with a software application
corresponding to the feature. For example, if a user wants to use
the mobile electronic device for navigation, the mobile electronic
device should have a GPS software application installed. However,
at present, the software application cannot be installed in the
mobile electronic device using another mobile electronic device,
but must be downloaded from the Internet or from a computer, which
can be very inconvenient.
[0005] Therefore, there is a need for a system and method to
overcome the aforementioned problem.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system for
installing a software application.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of one embodiment of an installing
unit of a mobile electronic device.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for
installing a software application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] All of the processes described may be embodied in, and fully
automated via, functional code modules executed by one or more
general purpose computers or processors. The code modules may be
stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other storage
device. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in
specialized computer hardware or electronic apparatus.
[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system 5
for installing a software application. In one embodiment, the
system 5 may comprise a server 4, and one or more mobile electronic
devices 1, 2, and 3 (only three shown). In one embodiment, the
server 4 may be a personal computer (PC), a network server, or
other appropriate data-processing equipment. Depending on the
embodiment, each of the mobile electronic devices 1, 2, and 3 may
be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any other
portable electronic device with a communication function. The
mobile electronic devices 1, 2, and 3 establish a communication
connection with the server 4 using a wireless connection, such as a
WI-FI connection, a wireless application protocol (WAP), or a
general packet radio service (GPRS) for mobile communication
network.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an installing
unit 10 of a mobile electronic device 1. For ease of understanding,
the following description uses just the mobile electronic device 1
and the mobile electronic device 2 as an example. The installing
unit 10 may be used to install a software application included in a
memory system 12 of the mobile electronic device 1 and in a memory
system 22 of the mobile electronic device 2. The software
application may be free software or commercial software. For
example, the software application may be the GNU image manipulation
program (GIMP), if the software application is free software.
Depending on the embodiment, the mobile electronic device 1 and the
mobile electronic device 2 are installed with the same components
having the same functions, such as installing units 10, 20,
processors 114, 214 and memory systems 12, 22 correspondingly.
[0012] The memory system (12, 22) store one or more programs, such
as computerized codes of the installing unit (10, 20), programs of
an operating system, and other applications. The memory system (12,
22) may be an internal memory system card or an external memory
system card, such as a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital
card (SDC), a compact flash card (CFC), a multi media card (MMC), a
memory system stick (MS), an extreme digital card (XDC), or a trans
flash card (TFC).
[0013] In one embodiment, the installing unit 10, 20 includes a
recording module 110, 210, a transmitting module 111, 211, an
accessing module 112, 212, and an installing module 113, 213. One
or more computerized codes of the mentioned modules are stored in
the installing unit 10, 20. One or more general purpose or
specialized processors, such as a processor 114, 214 executes the
computerized codes of the mentioned modules to provide one or more
operations of the mobile electronic device 1 and the mobile
electronic device 2.
[0014] The recording module 110 is operable to record an
installation record of a software application of the mobile
electronic device 1 and generate an installation list of the
software application in the mobile electronic device 1. In one
embodiment, the installation record comprises a system file of the
software application, a system configuration file of the software
application, and startup items of the software application. The
installation record may be, but not limited to, stored as a text
(TXT) file or an extensible markup language (XML) file. The
installation list of the software application comprises a serial
number of the mobile electronic device 1, a name of the software
application and version information of the software
application.
[0015] The transmitting module 111 is operable to transmit the
installation list of the software application from the mobile
electronic device 1 to the server 4. In one embodiment, the
transmitting module 111 wirelessly transmits the installation list
of the software application from the mobile electronic device 1 to
the server 4.
[0016] The accessing module 212 is operable to access the
installation list of the software application by the mobile
electronic device 2 and send a request to the server 4 for
installing the software application.
[0017] The transmitting module 111 is further operable to transmit
an installation file of the software application from the mobile
electronic device 1 to the mobile electronic device 2. In one
embodiment, the transmitting module 111 transmits the installation
file of the software application from the mobile electronic device
1 to the mobile electronic device 2 using a multimedia short
message.
[0018] The installing module 213 is operable to install the
software application in the mobile electronic device 2 according to
the installation file of the software application and the
installation record of the software application. In one embodiment,
the installing module 213 automatically installs the software
application if the mobile electronic device 2 receives the
installation file of the software application.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for
installing a software application using the mobile electronic
device 1 and the mobile electronic device 2. Depending on the
embodiment, additional blocks may be added, while others deleted,
and the blocks may also be executed in a different order than
described.
[0020] In block S1, the recording module 110 records an
installation record of a software application of the mobile
electronic device 1, then the recording module 110 generates an
installation list of the software application in the mobile
electronic device 1. The transmitting module 111 transmits the
installation list of the software application from the mobile
electronic device 1 to the server 4. As mentioned above, the
installation record comprises a system file of the software
application, a system configuration file of the software
application, and startup items of the software application. The
installation record may, but not limited to, be stored into a text
(TXT) file or an extensible markup language (XML) file. The
installation list of the software application comprises a serial
number of the mobile electronic device 1, a name of the software
application and version information of the software
application.
[0021] In block S2, the accessing module 212 accesses the
installation list of the software application by the mobile
electronic device 2.
[0022] In block S3, the accessing module 212 sends a request for
installing the application software to the server 4.
[0023] In block S4, the server 4 determines if the software
application is available at no cost (e.g. free). One such software
application may be an image editing program, such as the GIMP, for
Linux based computers. If the server determines that the software
application is available at no cost, then the procedure goes to
block S8. Otherwise, the procedure goes to block S5.
[0024] In block S5, the server 4 wirelessly sends a notification
for a payment to the mobile electronic device 2.
[0025] In block S6, the mobile electronic device 2 sends a feedback
to the server 4 to confirm the payment.
[0026] In block S7, the server 4 sends a notification to the mobile
electronic device 1, wherein the notification indicates the mobile
electronic device 2 has paid for the software application.
[0027] In block S8, the transmitting module 111 transmits an
installation file of the software application from the mobile
electronic device 1 to the mobile electronic device 2. For example,
the transmitting module 111 transmits the installation file of the
GIMP from the mobile electronic device 1 to the mobile electronic
device 2 using a multimedia short message.
[0028] In block S9, the installing module 213 installs the software
application in the mobile electronic device 2 according to the
installation file of the software application and the installation
record of the software application. In one embodiment, the
installing module 213 automatically installs the GIMP if the mobile
electronic device 2 receives the installation file of the GIMP.
[0029] Although certain inventive embodiments of the present
disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure
is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or
modifications may be made to the present disclosure without
departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
* * * * *